Today marked the kick-off of the Academy’s very first Taster session in South Africa. Class of Academy ’04 Richard Rumney recalls day uno at the Red Bull Studio in Cape Town.

It may seem like an obvious thing to say, but the first day of ‘A Third World Perspective – The Red Bull Music Academy Taster’ in Cape Town nostalgically reminded me of the time I was at the Red Bull Music Academy. Which is a good thing, because that’s the point. The 20 chosen participants from around South Africa, a motley crew of musicians, producers and DJs, all uniquely fascinating in their own right, arrived late morning at the Red Bull Studio, all set up for the day’s lectures and studio sessions.

Things kicked off with a quick introduction from everyone, detailing their general interests and the last CD they bought which led to some interesting discoveries. It was then time for Russ Elevado. I must admit I was a bit nervous, because I knew that he had a late night at Cape Town’s swinging bar, Julip. All anxiety was laid to rest the moment Ivan, the main host of the Taster, began to chat to Russ. In true Red Bull Music Academy wild style Russ casually went through stories and anecdotes about a career that has seen him work with Blackalicious, D’Angelo, The Roots, Rick Rubin, DJ Mehdi and Jay-Z. If there is anything I really took out of Russ’ lecture it’s that experimentation is the key to perfection. To have an attitude that says “try not to be formulaic, be experimental with everything you do” means that any possibility is explored during the creative process and which means you will always find the near-perfect result.
 


As he dropped tracks that he had worked on, such as the Roots’ genre-defying The Seed 2.0 and the amazingly warm new music he has been working on with Nikka Costa, the audience gleefully nodded their head in appreciation. What a start to what will undoubtedly be four days of jaw-dropping sounds and inspiration!

After lunch, it was time for South Africa’s own musical hero already on the rise, the ultra-mellow, but still a stand up example of South African house’s rebirth of cool, Nathi Maphumulo aka Blackcoffee. Nathi related his musical upbringing from his humble beginnings in Kwa-Zulu Natal to his move to Jo’burg, the birth of his name and kick-start to his career at the Red Bull Music Academy in Cape Town, his remix of Hugh Masekela and his ever growing popularity overseas with his label Soulistic Music. In fact humility seems to be Nathi’s signature. His dry sense of humour and laid-back attitude belies a self-confidence without a towering ego. “I don’t own that inspiration that comes through. Bra Hugh Masekela said that you should never think you own the music.”
 


Straight after Nathi, the king of South African electronica, Sibot, gave a demonstration on his approach to making his own brand of ghetto-electro-hip-hop, live with a synthesizer, sampler and the amazing KORG Kaoss Pad. In fact the demonstration felt a little like a sales pitch for the Kaoss Pad, simply because it really is one of the most amazing pieces of musical equipment out there. Even though Si’s music could easily fit into the pigeon-hole ‘underground’, watching him perform had everyone in the audience applauding after every song.

After lectures, it was time to make music. The musicians hit the top studio for a serious six-hour jam, with Russ behind the mixing desk. Downstairs fellow participants added more synths, samplers and effects units to Sibot’s setup as an insane electronic music jam session took shape. In the other two studios the mellow yet energetic sounds of house sprinkled out of the sound proof doors and across the room, a hip hop instrumental that would make DJ Premier proud, began to take shape.

Later that night as the sessions died down, spirits were high and inspired. As I sat back I commented to someone that the first instalment of ‘A Third World Perspective’ felt very much like a day Red Bull Music Academy. It think that simply states that it’s working…



BONUS: Blackcoffee (Soulistic, Real Tone, South Africa) - Sonar Sessions 2007